AX yrf-y^ k~^-J / l(r-t n -, A isi_ 



REPORT 



COMMITTEE 



ARTS AND SCIENCES AND SCHOOLS 

OF THE 

BOARD OF ASSISTANTS, 

ON THE SUBJECT OF 

APPROPRIATING A PORTION OF THE 

SOIS@@IL E2@STIE , ar 

TO RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES, FOR THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. 



DOCUMENT No. 80. 



IVBIT-YOBKi 

» 

1840. 



t 



REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMITTEE 

ON 

ARTS AND SCIENCES AND SCHOOLS 

OF THE 

BOARD OF ASSISTANTS, 



ON THE SUBJECT OF 



Y\.. 

APPROPRIATING A PORTION OF THE 

TO RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES, FOR THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. 



DOCUMENT l¥o. 80. 



1840. 




Mr A%> 



DOCUMENT No. 80. 



BOARD OF 

ASSISTANT ALDERMEN. 

APRIL 27th, 1840. 



Report of the Committee on Arts and Sciences and Schools, 
on the Petition of the Officers and Members of the Roman 
Catholic and other Churches, in the City of New- York, 
for an Apportionment of School Moneys, to the Schools 
attached to said Churches. Presented by Mr. Dodge. 
Adopted, and Tido Thousand Copies ordered to be print- 
ed, with the accompanying Petitions and Remonstrances, 
under the direction of the Committee. 

Edward Patterson, Clerk. 



The Committee on Arts and Sciences and Schools of the 

Board of Assistants, to whom were referred the Petitions of 

the Trustees and Members of the several Roman Catholic 

Churches in the City of New- York, the Scotch Presbyterian 

1 



Doc. No. 80.] 338 

part of the argument, so far as the same relates to books or 
exercises of any kind in the Public Schools, reflecting on the 
Catholic Church, was, as is herein before stated, denied by the 
School Society. 

On the part of the Public School Society it was contended 
that any appropriation of the School money, to any religious 
denomination for the purpose of educating the Children of that 
denomination was foreign to the design of the Common School 
system, as organized by law, hostile to the spirit of the Con- 
stitution, and at variance with the nature of our free institu- 
tions. 

It may be proper here to state, that in the argument, it was ad- 
mitted on the part of the Catholic petitioners, that in the schools 
attached to their churches, religious instruction in the doc- 
trines of the Church would be given after the usual school 
hours, with the understanding, that no child would be requir- 
ed to attend at that time without the approval of the parents. 

The preceding is a brief abstract of the views presented to 
your Committee by the petitioners and remonstrants. It is im- 
portant that a statement of these views should be presented in 
this form to the Board, that they may fully understand the 
wishes of the parties, and through them, as far as they can be 
ascertained in this way, the feelings and opinions of the pub- 
lic. 

Upon the facts presented to the Committee, two questions 
have arisen of great moment to the People of this City and 
State. These questions have received our most attentive ex- 
amination, and the conclusions to which the Committee have 
arrived, are such, they trust, as will meet the concurrence of 
the Board and the approval of the public. 

The questions to which the Committee have directed their 
attention, are as follows : 

First — Have the Common Council of this City, under the 
existing Laws relative to Common Schools in the city of New 



339 [Doc. No. 80. 

York, a legal right to appropriate any portion of the School 
Fund to Religious Corporations 1 

Second — Would the exercise of such power be in accord- 
ance with the spirit of the Constitution, and the nature of our 
Government ? 

It is undeniable, that the Common Council of the City of 
New-York, have, by statute, the power of designating the 
" Institutions and Schools" which shall participate in the be- 
nefits of the Common School Fund. Under the statute con- 
firming this power the question naturally arises — What asso- 
ciations of individuals does the phrase "Institutions and 
Schools" include ? A brief review of the legislation of the 
State, upon the subject of Public Instruction in this City, will 
throw much light upon the subject. 

The Common School System of the State of New-York 
was designed by the people, through whose representatives 
in the Legislature it was organized, to afford to every child 
the opportunity of acquiring a plain and practical education of 
that character which would fit him for the ordinary business of 
life. To afford to all citizens the privilege of educating their 
children, under the public care and at the public charge, the 
Legislature perceived the necessity of placing the Schools 
beyond the reach of those influences, which might render them 
obnoxious to the feelings of any citizen. To avoid the intro- 
duction of subjects of instruction, into the Schools, that might, 
by possibility, lead to the creation of angry and unpleasant 
feelings in the little neighbourhoods, which compose the 
School Districts of the State,the entire management and control 
of the Schools, in the first instance, was given by law to Com- 
missioners, Inspectors and Trustees, elected immediately by the 
people of the several towns and districts. Private Associations 
and Religious Corporations were excluded from the manage- 
ment of the funds, and the government of the Schools. Pri- 
vate interest, under this system, could not appropriate the 



Doc. No. 80.] 340 

public treasure to private purposes, and religious zeal could 
not divert them to the purposes of proselytism. The watch- 
ful eye of an interested community guarded the treasure of 
the Schools ; and mutual jealousy prevented the introduction 
of any system of education into the school-room, which might, 
by possibility, be the the means of propagating the doctrines 
of any denomination, at the expense of others. It is evident, 
from the strictly popular character of the system of public 
instruction, as originally established, that the Legislature in- 
tended the Public School Fund to be employed for the pur- 
pose of communicating to the children of the state, instruc- 
tion of a strictly secular character, altogether unconnected 
with either political or religious education. This system for 
the government of the Schools has existed in the state, ex- 
cepting in the city of New- York, and some other cities, from 
the year 18 12 to the present time, and has been productive of 
the happiest results. 

The first general act for the establishment of Common 
Schools was passed in the year 1812. By that act the Com- 
mon School System was organized, in the manner and with 
the design hereinbefore stated. All the provisions of the 
act in question did not extend to this city. The Officers char- 
ged with the expenditure of the School Money, and the Super- 
vision of the Schools in the city of New- York were not in- 
tended to be elected by the people, nor were the people, 
through their immediate representatives, to exercise a direct 
control over the subject. A subsequent act was passed on the 
12th of March, 1813, relative to Common Schools in this 
city, (and supplementary to the act of 1812), by which the 
Commissioners of School Moneys were directed to pay the 
moneys received by them to "the Trustees of the Free School 
Society in the city of New-York" (now known as the Public 
School Society) and to "the Trustees or Teachers of the Or- 
phan Asylum Society, the Society of the Economical School 



341 [Doc. No. 80, 

in the city of New-York, the African Free School, and of 
stick incorporated Religious Societies in said city, as now 
support or hereafter shall establish Charity Schools within the 
said city who may apply for the same, &c." Revised Laws, 
vol. 1, p. 267. 

It will be perceived that by this act " Incorporated Reli- 
gious Societies" were expressly named as proper recipients of 
the public bounty, provided for the support of Common 
Schools ; and it appears too, from the language of the act, that 
the Commissioners had no discretion as to the admission or 
exclusion of religious Societies from a participation in the fund. 
The law was imperative in its character, and the several Re- 
ligious Societies of the city possessed a legal right to draw their 
respective portions of the fund, from the Public Treasury, sub- 
ject only to the restriction, that the money so received should 
be appropriated to the purposes of free and common education. 
Under this law, many churches of different denominations 
participated in the benefits of the School Fund. At different 
periods, special acts of the Legislature were passed conferring 
portions of the same fund upon several charitable societies, 
other than those of a sectarian character. Another act, which 
eventually led to the change in the system, which your Com- 
mittee are about to state, was passed in 1S22, authorizing the 
Bethel Baptist Church, (then one of the participants in the 
School Fund), "to employ the surplus of School money in 
their hands, in the erection of School houses, and all other 
needful purposes of a common school education, but for no 
other purpose whatever." Under this act gross abuses oc- 
curred, and the funds received by the Church were applied to 
other purposes than those contemplated by the act. This mis- 
application of the public money, devoted to the sacred pur- 
poses of common education, induced the Legislature in the 
session of 1824 — not to repeal the act passed for the benefit 
of the Bethel Church, and under which the abuses in ques- 



Doc. No. 80.] 342 

tion had occurred, but to repeal that portion of the act of 
1813, which included " Incorporated Religious Societies" 
among the recipients of the school fund. The Committee 
will proceed to state the extent and manner of the repeal, in 
detail. 

On the 19th of November, 1824, the Legislature, in con- 
sequence of the abuses of the Bethel Church, and evidently 
with a view to guard against the recurrence of similar or any 
abuses thereafter, passed a general act, entering fully into de- 
tails, for the better management of the School Fund in the city 
of New-York. By this act many important alterations in the 
system were effected ; and among others, the whole power of 
selecting the recipients of the School Moneys was delegated 
to the Common Council. The act, to which your Committee 
refer, is entitled " An Act relating to Common Schools in the 
city of New-York." By the fifth section of this law it is pro- 
vided as follows : — " The Intitutions or Schools which shall 
be entitled to receive of said School Moneys, shall, from time 
to time, and at least once in three years, be designated by the 
Corporation of the City of New-York, in Common Council 
convened, who shall also have power to prescribe the limita- 
tions and restrictions under which said moneys shall be re- 
ceived by said institutions or schools, or any of them." Laws 
of 1824, p. 338. By the ninth section it is provided, that the 
act take effect on the 15th day of May, 1825, and that from 
and after that day, the act entitled " An Act supplementary to 
the Act, entitled ' An Act for the establishment of Common 
Schools,' passed the 12th of March, 1813, and all, each and 
every other act or section and sections of acts, heretofore pass- 
ed, relating to Common Schools, to moneys arising from the 
School Fund of the State, or to the distribution or apportion- 
ment thereof, to far as relates to, or in anywise concerns 
the City and County of New- York, and Societies support- 
ing Charity Schools therein, and no further, is and are here- 
by repealed. Laws of 1824, p. 339. 



343 [Doc. No. 80. 

Previous to Eighteen Hundred and Twenty -four, the Le- 
gislature of the State designated the Societies or Schools, 
who were entitled to receive a portion of the School Fund, 
but by the act of that year, re-enacted in the Revised Statutes, 
that power is conferred upon the Common Council ; and the 
question now presented to the Board, is, whether the Common 
Council have an unlimited discretion in the matter, or whe- 
ther they are subject to any limitation, and if so, to what ? 

By the School Act of 1812, " Incorporated Religious So- 
cieties," supporting or establishing Charity Schools, were ex- 
pressly named, as entitled to receive, with other Societies, 
their rateable proportions of the School Fund. One of the 
" Incorporated Religious Societies" participating in the fund, 
and authorized by law to employ it for a special purpose, mis- 
applied the money and abused the trust reposed in it. — 
The Legislature, immediately thereafter, repealed the law of 
1813, under which, religious societies were then recipients of 
the money, and authorised the Common Council to designate 
the "Institutions" and " Schools" which should be entitled to 
receive it. 

There is something peculiar in the language of the repeal- 
ing act of 1824, which fully satisfies your Committee, that the 
Legislature intended, ever after, to exclude Religious Corpora- 
tions from the reception of the School monies. In the act of 
1S13, they are named as " Incorporated Religious Societies," 
and this is the only act, under which they ever received any 
portion of the fund. By the act of 1824, " Institutions" and 
" Schools" are to receive it. It would require much ingenuity 
to induce any person to believe, that the Legislature of the 
State would, in a solemn legal enactment, describe a church 
as an "institution" or "a school." The language employed, 
your Committee believe, should be construed in its plain and 
familiar meaning, and it must be evident to all, that if the Le- 
gislature, in 1824, intended to confer any portion of the School 
2 



Doc. No. 72.*] 344 

fund upon religious societies, they would have used the words 
found in the act of 1813, or words of a similar import. 

The attention of the Board is also called to that part of the* 
ninth section of the act of 1824, which repeals the act of I813 r 
relative to Common Schools in this City. This section de- 
clares, in the most unequivocal and forcible manner, that "the 
act of 1813 and all and every other act or sections of acts re- 
lating to the distribution and apportionment of the school 
fund, so far as the same relates to the City of New- York ; 
and to societies supporting Charity Schools therein, are re- 
pealed." No language can be more clear and explicit than 
this, 'and your Committee cannot hesitate, in expressing it to be 
their opinion, that the only authority under which religious 
societies participated in the School fund, was contained in the 
act of 1813 ; and that this act was repealed by the Legislature 
with the full intention that religious societies, as such, should 
no longer receive any portion of the School money from the 
Public Treasury, even for the purpose of supporting Common 
Schools. This opinion of your Committee is confirmed by the 
almost universal opinion of the People of this City, from 1824 
to the present time. 

It is undeniable that the Common Council have a general 
discretion as to the schools to be supported by the public money, 
but it appears to your Committee, that the intentions of the 
Legislature and the people, although not reduced to the form 
of a positive legal enactment, should, so far as they can be 
gathered from the proceedings of the Legislature, be respected 
by the Common Council. Believing that the act of 1824 was 
intended to prevent a participation in the School Monies by 
religious societies, your Committee suggest to the Board, that 
their power to apportion the fund among societies of that cha- 
racter is at the least very questionable ; and that a prudent re- 
gard for the obligations of duty should prevent the exercise of 
so doubtful a power in any case whatever. 



345 [Doc. No. 80. 

It may be proper here to observe, that the act of 1824, rela- 
tive to the distribution of School Monies in the City of New- 
York, was re-enacted in the Revised Statutes (vol. \ 1, new ed. 
p. 483.) In the re-enactment of this statute, the words " So- 
cieties or Schools" are used in defining the recipients of the 
fund. It may be urged, that the alteration of the language of 
the act in question indicated an intention on the part of the 
Legislature to return to the system of distribution established 
by the act of 1813. But your Committee cannot entertain this 
view of the subject. The Revisors of the laws were appoint- 
ed to digest and codify the then existing Statute Law of the 
State. In the performance of this duty, they in various in- 
stances adopted language/which they believed to be more clear, 
explicit, or appropriate than that of the original act. The lan- 
guage of the Revised Statutes, in relation to the subject under 
consideration, may perhaps be preferable, in some respects, to 
that of the original act of 1824, but it certainly cannot be con- 
strued as intended to alter the legal effect of that law. It re- 
lates to the same subject matter, and is virtually declared to be 
a re-enactment of the former act, by the reference contained in 
the accompanying note : and the Committee can therefore 
adopt no rule of construction that would defeat the object of 
that act, which it was evidently the design of the Revisors and 
the Legislature, to confirm and perpetuate. 

The same remark may be made in relation to the provisions 
of the Revised Statutes, that was made in reference to the act 
of 1824. If the Revisors or the Legislature intended to in- 
clude religious Corporations, an.ong the recipients of the 
•School Fund, they would have used the words " Incorporated 
religious societies," or words of a similar meaning and im- 
port. 

There is another important view of the subject to which 
the Committee would call the attention of the Board. The 
Constitution of the State, in the following impressive Ian- 



Doc. No. 8flt] 346 

guage, secures to every citizen the utmost liberty of conscience. 
" The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and 
worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever 
be allowed, in this State, to all mankind." Art. 7th, sec. 3d. 
There can be no constitutional guarantee more full and ge- 
neral than this ; and it was certainly the object of the Con- 
vention which framed, and of the People who adopted the 
Constitution, to prevent the Legislature of the State, and all 
other branches of the Government, from creating any distinc- 
tions between citizens on account of religious faith ; or giving 
to one sect any preference or advantage over another. That 
this is the object of the constitutional provision referred to, 
none can deny. The question then* arises — how far will the 
appropriation of the School Moneys asked for by the Peti- 
tioners, conflict with the requirements and intentions of the 
Constitution ? This branch of the subject has been atten- 
tively considered by your Committee, and they offer the fol- 
lowing, as the results of their deliberations. 

The people of the State of New-York are divided into al- 
most innumerable religious sects and denominations. These 
different sects view the progress of each other, with watchful 
jealousy. The natural desire that all men possess, to make 
converts to the opinions which they have honestly formed and 
zealously maintain, ever has led, and ever will lead to ex- 
ertions and struggles to extend those opinions to the utmost 
limit. This is true of all opinions, but the history of the 
world proves that it applies more justly to religious opinion, 
than to any other. The old world, and even our own country, 
has witnessed, not only religious zeal endeavoring to make 
proselytes to its own faith, by the means of persuasion, argu- 
ment, and even denunciation ; but persecution for opinion's 
sake is known to the history of every civilized government. 
Religious zeal, degenerating into fanaticism and bigotry, has 
covered many battle-fields with its victims ; the stake, the 



347 [Doc. No. 80. 

gibbet and the prison have fallen to the lot of countless mar- 
tyrs ; exile from the land of their nativity, expulsion from the 
seats of civilization to the wilderness of the savage, have been 
experienced by hundreds, of almost every sect, who could not 
honestly subscribe to the religious opinions of the majority. — 
To prevent, in our day and country, the recurrence of scenes 
so abhorrent to every principle of justice, humanity and right, 
the Constitutions of the United States and of the several 
States, have declared in some form or other, that there should 
be no establishment of religion by law ; that the affairs of the 
State should be kept entirely distinct from, and unconnected 
with, those of the Church ; that every human being should 
worship God, according to the dictates of his own conscience ; 
that all Churches and religions should be supported by vo- 
luntary contribution ; and that no tax should ever be impos- 
ed for the benefit of any denomination of religion, for any 
cause, or under any pretence, whatever. These principles 
are either expressly declared in the several Constitutions, or 
arise by necessary implication from the nature of our Gov- 
ernments, and the character of our republican institutions. 

In the cases before your Committee, the Petitioners ask for 
an appropriation of the Public Money to the support of Schools 
established by, and conducted under the control of certain 
Keligious Corporations ; and those Schools, in the one case, 
are established principally for the instruction of the Children 
of indigent members of the Roman Catholic Church. The 
Teachers, if your Committee are correctly informed, are ap- 
pointed by the Trustees of those Churches, and the plan of in- 
struction pursued is adopted by the same officers. This plan 
includes religious instruction, at stated periods, to be commu- 
nicated by means of the catechism of the Catholic Church. 
Your Committee are unable to say, positively, whether any 
devotional exercises are used, or required in the Schools, but 
they regard this, as immaterial to be considered, in this stage 



Doc. No. 80.] 348 

of the question. They are also unable to state whether any 
religious instruction is given, or intended to be given, in the 
Schools of the other Petitioners, the Scotch Presbyterian 
Church, and the Hebrew Congregation. The Schools, sought 
to be supported from the Public Treasury, (being controlled 
by religious corporations) are to that extent, religious schools. 
To a correct understanding of the relation this case bears 
to the Constitutional provisions and principles hereinbefore 
referred to, it will be necessary to refer briefly to the sources 
and present extent of the School Fund appropriated to the 
City of JNew-York. This fund arises in part from the annual 
income of the proceeds of lands sold by the State, which be- 
longed to the People of the State in common, the interest of 
the United States' Deposite Fund ; and also from annual tax- 
ation upon the People of this City. 

The amount received from the State Treasury 

in the year 1838 was - $34,172 47 

Amount of tax raised by Corporation for Com- 
mon Schools, under the general law relat- 
ing to Common Schools, for the same 
year ------- 34,172 47 

Amount of tax raised in this city for Common 
School purposes, under special statutes, in 
the same year - - - - - 73,150 GO 



$141,494 94 



The whole amount received from the School Fund of the 
State, the common property of the people is $34,172 47. The 
amount raised by tax in the City of New-York, for the sup- 
port of Common Schools, for 1838, was $107,322 47, or nearly 
the one-twelfth part of the whole amount of taxes levied in 
this city. 



349 [Doc. No. 80. 

It is urged on the part of the Catholic petitioners, that they, 
as tax payers, contribute to the fund thus annually raised, and 
that they are therefore entitled to participate in its benefits. 
This is undoubtedly true, but it should be borne in mind, that 
they are taxed not as members of the Roman Catholic Church 
but as citizens of the State of New-York ; and not for the 
purposes of religion, but for the support of civil government. 
The Constitution acknowledges no distinctions among men 
on account of their religious faith ; and your Committee would 
call the attention of the petitioners, to the fact, that our insti- 
tutions are designed, not to create or perpetuate religious dis- 
tinctions, but to place all mankind upon a common footing of 
equality. Any legal acknowledgment of any religious deno- 
mination, as a dependant upon the public bounty for any kind 
of pecuniary aid or support, would be an abandonment of the 
great Constitutional principle, that the end and aim of all just 
government is the equal protection of all men, in the free ex- 
ercise and enjoyment of the rights derived from the written 
Constitution of the land, or the still higher authority of na- 
ture. The appropriation of any portion of the Public Trea- 
sure to the Roman Catholic, or any other churches in this 
city, must be regarded as violative of this great doctrine. 
Admit the correctness of the claim, that the Common Council 
of the City or the Legislature of the State may rightfully 
appropriate the public money to the purposes of religious in- 
struction of any kind, in any school, and the consequence will 
be, that the People are taxed by law, for the support of some 
one or other of our numerous religious denominations. The 
amount of One Hundred and Seven Thousand Dollars and 
upwards, as hereinbefore stated, has been raised by annual 
tax, in this city, for purposes of a purely civil and secular 
character. An appropriation of any portion of that sum to 
the support of schools, in which the religious tenets of any 
sect are taught, to any extent, would be a legal establishment 



Doc. No. 80. 350 

of one denomination of religion over another, would conflict 
with all the principles and purposes of our free institutions, 
and would violate the very letter of that part of our Constitution 
which so emphatically declares, that " The free exercise and 
enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discri- 
mination or preference, shall forever be allowed, in this state, 
to all mankind." By granting a portion of the School Fund 
to one sect, to the exclusion of others, a "preference" is at 
once created, a " discrimination" is made, and the object of 
this great Constitutional guarantee is defeated ; taxes are im- 
posed for the support of religion ; and freedom of conscience, 
if not directly trammelled and confined, is not left in the per- 
fect and unshackled state which our systems of government 
were intended to establish and perpetuate. It requires no ar- 
gument to prove that taxation of all sects for the benefit of 
one, is a violation of the rights of conscience. No difference 
can be perceived in principle between the taxing of the peo- 
ple of England for the support of a church establishment 
there, and the taxing of the people of New-York, for the sup- 
port of schools in which the doctrines of religious denomina- 
tions are taught, here — it is immaterial whether the amount of 
tax imposed is great or small ; so long as a tax is imposed for 
the purposes of religious instruction, to the slightest possible 
extent, that tax is unauthorized by the Constitution, violates 
the rights of conscience, defeats to some extent the purposes^ 
and conflicts with the spirit of our free institutions. 

It may be said, in' reply, to these observations, that all con- 
stitutional difficulties will be removed, by admitting all reli- 
gious denominations to a participation in the fund. This,, 
your Committee have no doubt, the petitioners would wil- 
lingly assent to. The petitioners have no desire of securing 
a portion of the fund for themselves, and excluding others from 
the enjoyment of the same advantages. They are willing that 
other sects should establish schools on similar principles with 



351 [Doc. No. SO. 

their own, and that those schools should receive equal encou- 
ragement from the public, with theirs. These remarks are 
made with a view to exonerate the petitioners from the suspi- 
cion of having been influenced by selfish or illiberal motives. 
The Committee are fully satisfied, that they have acted under 
a conviction of duty, but with an erroneous view of their 
rights, as religious societies, the provisions of the law and 
the powers of the Common Council, and not from a desire to 
advance the interests of the several churches to which they 
are attached, at the expense of the Constitution. 

An extension to all other denominations of the bounty asked 
for by the petitioners, would be, not only impracticable — but 
would be, equally with the grant sought by the Roman Ca- 
tholic Churches, and the Scotch Presbyterian and Hebrew Con- 
gregations, repugnant to the principles of our government. 
If the doctrines of all the religious denominations in the state? 
were taught, in the slightest degree, at the expense of the peo- 
ple, under the authority of law, there would still be a legal reli- 
gious establishment, not confined to one or a few sects, it is true, 
but covering many. Taxes, under such a system, would still 
be raised for religious purposes ; and those who professed no 
religion, or belonged to no sect, would be taxed for the benefit 
of those who did. It is immaterial, in the eye of the law, 
whether a citizen professes any or no religious faith ; he is 
still a citizen, and as such, is entitled to the free enjoyment of 
whatever opinions he may entertain : and there is no difference, 
in legal principle, between taxing him for the purpose of edu- 
cating the young in the doctrines of many churches, to which 
he does not belong, and taxing the Catholic for the benefit of 
Protestant Schools, or taxing the Protestant for the support of 
Catholic Seminaries. The rights of conscience are the same, 
m the one case as in the other ; and the cases are identical in 
principle, although in the one instance, but few may deem 
themselves injured, and in the other,thousands may complain of 

3 



Doc. No. 80.] 352 

the violation of their rights, as free citizens. No government 
can rightfully deprive any, the humblest being, of the rights 
which he may derive from nature as a man, or of those which 
he possesses as a citizen, under the constitution of his country. 

There are insuperable objections to dividing the School 
fund among Religious Societies, for the support of schools. 
The dependence upon the bounty of the civil government 
which it induces, is as foreign to the nature and character of 
the Christian religion, as it is hostile to the theory of our go- 
vernment. Religion needs not the support of secular power. 
Its appeals are to the judgments and hearts of men. Truth 
is its only weapon, and the only shield it requires, is that of 
broad and equal protection. Religious liberty is necessary to 
the free developement of religious truth. That liberty all sects 
possess in the fullest degree ; and no sect can rightfully pro- 
cure more. The purity of the Church, and the safety of the 
State, are more surely obtained, by a distinct and separate ex- 
istence of the two, than by their union. The opinions of the 
American people are settled upon this subject, and they will 
observe with jealous anxiety, any approaches to a re-establish- 
ment of the exploded doctrine, that it is the duty of the State, 
to protect the religious interests of the people, or propagate 
at the public expense, the doctrines of any faith, however true 
they may be. 

The division of the School Fund among the different reli- 
gious denominations of the city, would lead to the most un- 
fortunate results. If a division of this character should be 
made, it would be, doubtless, in proportion to the number of 
children taught in each school. The schools, although free 
to all that might desire to enter, would be mainly sectarian in 
their character. To increase the number of scholars in each 
school, and thus secure to themselves as large a share of the 
public bounty as possible, would be the natural desire of each 
denomination. The main object of the interested parties, would 
be, to make proselytes to their respective faiths, and thus to in- 



353 [Doc. No. 80. 

crease the power and numerical strength of the several 
churches, and the number and extent of the several schools. 
The consequences of this state of things, it would be difficult 
to imagine. Jealousies, rivalries and dissensions would sup- 
plant those gentler feelings, which should guide and mark the 
conduct of men towards each other, in civil society. Bigotry, 
fanaticism and violence might assume the place of charity, 
meekness and love ; and thus, a train of evils be induced, de- 
structive to the true interests of religion, and dangerous to the 
harmony, the permanency, and the freedom of the State, The 
history of the world teems with examples of religious excite- 
ment, degenerating into wild and embittered fanaticism ; jea- 
lousies converted into open dissensions, and dissensions ripen- 
ing into wars, and those wars devastating whole nations, until 
the angry feelings of the partizans were satiated by the blood 
of their victims. 

If the school money should be divided among the religious 
denominations generally, as some have proposed, there will be 
nothing left for the support of schools of a purely civil cha- 
racter ; and if there should be, in such a state of things, any 
citizen who could not, according to his opinions of right and 
wrong, conscientiously send his child to the school of an ex- 
isting sect, there would be no public school in which he could 
be educated. This might, and probably would be the case, 
with hundreds of our citizens. The committee would ask, if 
any individual could desire to see a fellow citizen, however 
humble he might be, deprived of the opportunity of procuring 
for his child, that education which as a citizen and a tax payer 
he has a right to demand ? 

An objection is urged by the Roman Catholic petitioners 
against the schools of the Public School Society, to the effect, 
that no religious instruction is there given, or if any is given, 
it is of a character which reflects upon the doctrines of the 
Catholic^ Church. The Committee are disposed to believe 
that there is some error in relation to this matter. They have 



Doc. No. 80.] 354 

been informed by the officers of the Public School Society., 
that no books are used in their schools which reflect in any 
degree upon the Catholic Church. At the meeting- of the 
Committee referred to, in the preceding part of this Report, 
several officers of the Public School Society, then present, 
offered to submit the text books of the schools, to the inspec- 
tion of the highest clerical officers of that Church, for exami- 
nation ; and freely proffered to purge from the exercises and 
books of the schools, every thing (if any could be found) that 
exposed the Roman Catholic Church, or any thing connected 
with it, to ridicule or censure. 

If any books are used in the public schools, relating in the 
slightest degree, to the doctrines or ceremonies of the Roman 
Catholic, or any other religious denomination, the Directors 
of the Schools or other proper officers, should cause them to be 
immediately removed. If religious instruction is communi- 
cated, it is foreign to the intentions of the school system, and 
should be instantly abandoned. Religious instruction is no 
part of a common school education. The Church and the 
fire-side are the proper seminaries, and parents and pastors are 
the proper teachers of religion. In their hands, the cause of 
religion is safe. Let the public schoolmaster confine his at- 
tention to the moral and intellectual education of the young 
committed to his charge, and he fully performs the duties of 
his profession, discharges the trust reposed in him as a public 
agent, and fulfils his obligations as a citizen. 

The Committee have given the subject referred to them a 
thorough consideration, and they feel bound to say, that, in 
their opinion, the petitioners, coming before the Common 
Council in the capacity of religious denominations, have not 
made out a valid claim, to a participation in the Common 
School Fund, in that capacity. The reasons that have led 
the Committee to this conclusion, are hereinbefore stated. The 
intentions of the Legislature, the will of the people as express- 
ed through their representatives, and the imperative require- 



355 [Doc. No. SO. 

ments of the Constitution, preclude the Common Council (in 
the opinion of the Committee,) from granting their petitions. 
In arriving at this opinion, the Committee have not had refer- 
ence to one or a few, but to all denominations in religion ; and 
had such a petition been presented from the otherdenominations 
in this city, all would have received from the Committee, the an- 
swer that is given to these. No desire exists to include one sect 
in the benefits of the School Fund, and exclude others, but the 
object of the Committee, has been, to keep that fund sacredly ap- 
propriated to the purposes for which it was created — the pur- 
poses of free and common secular education. To this pur- 
pose all the provisions of our laws, and all the requirements 
of our Constitution invariably tend ; and the Committee can 
do nothing but suggest to the Board, that the obligations of 
the laws and the Constitution are such, that the appropriation 
of the School Fund, asked for in the several petitions before 
them, cannot be rightfully granted. 

In this opinion your Committee hope the Board, the peti- 
tioners, and the public will concur. The question is one of 
that character which appeals to the liveliest feelings of our 
nature, and one which is too apt to create excitement and 
jealousy. That this may not be the case among any portion 
of our citizens, your Committee most earnestly desire. They 
conclude by expressing the hope, that the petitioners, upon a 
full examination of the question, will perceive that the grant- 
ing of their petition would be at least of doubtful legality, 
foreign to the design of the School Fund, and at variance with 
the spirit of our public institutions. 

The Committee ask to be discharged from the further con- 
sideration of the subject. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

CHARLES J. DODGE, ) Committee 
DAVID GRAHAM, Jr. i on Arts and 
THOMAS CONNER, \ Sciences, &c. 



Doc. No. SO.] 356 



PETITIONS, REMONSTRANCES, &C. 

ACCOMPANYING THE FOREGOING REPORT. 

[ No.l. ] 

Petition of the Trustees of the several Roman Ca- 
tholic Churches in the City of New- York. 

At a meeting of the Trustees of the several Roman Catho- 
lic Churches in the City and County of New- York, held at 
St. Peter's Church, Barclay street, on Monday February 17th, 
1840, George Pardow, Esq. was called to the Chair, and Da- 
niel Major and Edmond S. Derry, were appointed Secretaries, 
it was, unanimously. 

Resolved, That the following petition be submitted to the 
Mayor and Common Council of the City of New-York, and 
their speedy action thereon respectfully solicited. 



To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New- 
York : 

The petition of the Trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral in 
the City of New-York, the Trustees of St. Peter's Church in 
the City of New -York, the Trustees of St. James' Roman 
Catholic Church in the City of New-York, the Trustees of 



357 [Doc. No. 80, 

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in the City of New-York, 
the Trustees of Transfiguration Church, the Trustees of St. 
Paul's Church, Harlaem, the Trustees of St. Mary's Roman 
Catholic Church in the City of New- York, and of the Trus- 
tees of St. Nicholas German Roman Catholic Church in the 
City of New-York, respectfully 

SHEWETH : 

That Free Schools are attached to the several Churches 
above specified, for the education of poor children of both 
sexes of the members of the Congregations attached to the 
above Churches, amounting in the aggregate to three thousand, 
or thereabouts. That your petitioners have heretofore sup- 
ported the schools attached to their respective churches, and 
paid the salaries of teachers employed therein out of their re- 
spective funds. 

Your petitioners further shew, that the pressure of the pre- 
sent times oblige your petitioners to ask from your Honorable 
Body such relief, as by law and in the judgment of your Ho- 
norable Body, they may be entitled to, on complying with the 
requirements of the Statutes of this State, and the Ordinances 
of your Body. Your petitioners therefore pray that your 
Honorable Body will be pleased to designate your petitioners 
as entitled to a share of the Common School Fund of this 
State. 

(A Copy from the Minutes of the said Meeting.) 

New- York, February 17, 1840. 

GEORGE PARDOW, Chairman. 

Daniel Major, } 

ri o T-k > Secretaries. 

Edmond S. Derry, ( 



Doc. No. 80.] 358 

OF THE 

MEMBERS OF ST. PETER'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 

IN BARCLAT-STKEET 

SIGNED BY GEORGE PARDOW, JOHN FOOTE, EDMOND S. DERRY, 
AND 279 OTHERS. 

[ No. 2. ] 

To the Honorable the Mayor and Common Council of the 
City of New- York. 

The Memorial of the members of the Congregation of St 
Peter's Church (Barclay street,) in the City of New- York, 
respectfully 

REPRESENTS : 

That deeply interested in, and anxious for the favorable ac- 
tion of your Honorable Body, upon the petition now before 
you, from the several Roman Catholic Churches in the City of 
New- York, asking for a participation in the Common School 
Fund, your memorialists have ventured to address you, and 
would impress upon your Honorable Body the propriety of 
granting the prayer of the said petition, so far as it relates to 
the Church to which your memorialists are attached. 

Your memorialists are sensible that your Honorable Body 
do not entertain, and therefore will not allow, feelings of par- 
tiality towards, or of prejudice against, any portion of your 
fellow citizens, to warp your judgment in this matter. 



359 [Doc. No. 80. 

Your memorialists believe that the request made upon your 
Honorable Body through the said petition will be, if granted, 
but that to which the petitioners are of right entitled to, and 
they well know that when only right is demanded, by you 
it will be willingly and speedily accorded. 

Your memorialists most respectfully show unto your Ho- 
norable Body, that for many years past, the Trustees of said 
St. Peter's Church have supported the free School attache d to 
their church, employed, and paid the salaries of competent 
teachers therefor out of their own funds, and that the number 
of Children now receiving, and who have received their edu- 
cation in said School, averages, and has averaged from four to 
five hundred. That there not being any public School lo- 
cated on the Westerly Section of our City below Barclay 
street, the said School of St. Peter's Church has at all times 
been, and now is attended by Children whose parents are of 
other denominations than Catholic, that the said School, al- 
though intended for the education of the children of poor pa- 
rents attached to that Church, and of the Congregation belong- 
ing thereto, has been always open (and still so continues) to 
the children of persons of every denomination and creed, who 
have been most cheerfully received and taught without refer- 
ence to their religious belief. 

Your memorialists show, that the Trustees of St. Peter's 
Church do not receive, nor have they for many years past, re- 
ceived any sum of money from the fund appropriated for the 
maintaining of Common Schools, or from any other source 
whatever, other than the Treasury of the said Church, and 
that they have thus long acquiesced in the present mode of 
distributing that fund, always considering themselves entitled 
to a portion of it, though they were satisfied to rely upon their 
own resources so long as they could do so, without causing 
positive injury to themselves. 

Your memorialists feel that justice to themselves now de- 
mands that the application for their share of the fund should 

4 



Doc. No. 80.] 360 

be made. The success which will attend the application rausl 
necessarily depend upon the favorable light in which it shall 
be viewed by your Honorable Body ; to that your memorialists 
will, without doubt, properly submit. 

Your memorialists pray the indulgence of your Honorable 
Body for thus, perhaps unnecessarily importuning you, but 
they hope that the solicitude which they feel for the result of 
the said application may offer some extenuation therefor. 

Your memorialists will ever feel grateful for the attention 
which your Honorable Body may see fit to bestow upon the 
subject. 

New- York, February 25, 1840, 



MEMBERS OF ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 

SIGNED BY JAMES KELLY AND 400 OTHERS. 

[ No. 3. ] 

To the Honorable the Mayor and Common Council of the 
City of Neiv- York. 

The Memorial of the members of the Congregation of St. 
Mary's Church in the City of New- York, respectfully 

REPRESENTS : 

That deeply interested in and anxious for the favorable ac- 
tion of your Honorable Body, upon the petition now before 



361 [Doc. No. 80. 

you from the several Roman Catholic Churches in the City of 
New-York, asking for a participation in the Common School 
Fund, your memorialists have ventured to address you, and 
would impress upon your Honorable Body the propriety of 
granting the prayer of the said petition so far as it relates to 
the Church to which your memorialists are attached. 

Your memorialists are sensible that your Honorable Body 
do not entertain, and therefore will not allow, feelings of par- 
tiality towards, or of prejudice against, any portion of your 
fellow citizens to warp your judgment in this matter. 

Your memorialists believe, that the request made upon your 
Honorable Body through the said petition will be, if granted, 
but that, to which the petitioners are of right entitled to, and 
they well know that when only right is demanded, by you 
it will be willingly and speedily accorded. 

Your memorialists most respectfully shew unto your Honor- 
able Body, that for many years past, the Trustees of said St. 
Mary's Church have supported the free School attached to 
their Church, employed, and paid the salaries of competent 
teachers therefor out of their own funds, and that the number 
of children now receiving, and who have received their edu- 
cation in said School, averages, and has averaged from seven 
to eight hundred. That the said School of St. Mary's Church 
have at all times been, and now is attended by children whose 
parents are of other denominations than Catholic, that the said 
School, although intended for the education of the children 
of poor parents attached to that Church, and of the Congre- 
gation belonging thereto, has been always open (and still so 
continues) to the children of persons of every denomination 
•and creed, who have been most cheerfully received and taught 
without reference to their religious belief. 

Your memorialists shew that the Trustees of St. Mary's 
Church do not receive, nor have they for many years past, 
received any sum of money from the fund appropriated for 
the maintaining of Common Schools, or from any other source 



Doc. No. 80.] 362 

whatever, other than the Treasury of the said Church, and 
that they have thus long acquiesced in the present mode of 
distributing that fund, always considering themselves entitled 
to a portion of it, though they were satisfied to rely upon their 
own resources so long as they could do so without causing 
positive injury to themselves. 

Your memorialists feel that justice to themselves now de- 
mands that the application for their share of the fund should 
be made. The success which will attend the application must 
necessarily depend upon the favorable light in which it shall 
be viewed by your Honorable Body ; to that your memorial- 
ists will, without doubt, properly submit. 

Your memorialists pray the indulgence of your Honorable 
Body for thus, perhaps unnecessarily importuning you, but 
they hope that the solicitude which they feel for the result of 
the said application may offer some extenuation therefor. 

Your memorialists will ever feel grateful for the attention 
which your Honorable Body may see fit to bestow upon the 
subject. 

New- York, February 25, 1840. 

Similar petitions to that of St. Mary's Church were pre- 
sented from the Roman Catholic Churches of St. Patrick, 
Transfiguration, St. Joseph, St. James, and St. Nicholas, signed 
by a large number of the members of those Churches. 



363 [Doc. No. 80. 



MEMORIAL AND PETITION 



SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, IN THE CITY 
OF NEW- YORK. 

[ No - 4 - ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New- 
York : 

The memorial of the Trustees of the Scotch Presbyterian 
Church in said city, respectfully 

REPRESENTS : 

That the Church, on behalf of which your memorialists act, 
now has a Charity School of about One Hundred and Twenty 
children, which school might be greatly increased by an in- 
crease of means. 

Your memorialists had not thought of asking that any por- 
tion of the " Common School Fund" might be diverted from 
its present channels of disbursement : but understanding that 
the " Trustees of the Catholic Schools" of this city, have ask- 
ed for a part of said Fund, if your Honorable Body shall de- 
termine to grant their request, and thus establish the principle 
that this fund, though raised by general tax, may be appro- 
priated to church or sectarian schools — then your memorial- 
ists respectfully but earnestly contend, that they are entitled 
to a rateable portion thereof — and accordingly pray that they 



Doc. No. SO.] 364 

may, in that event, be authorized, by law, to draw on the above 
mentioned fund, for all children now taught, or who hereafter 
may be taught in any school or schools attached to said Scotch 
Presbyterian Church. 

By order of the Trustees, 

HENRY RANKIN, Chairman 

of Trustees of S. P. C. 

Thomas H. Faile, Secretary. [ l. s. ] 



Memorial and Petition 

OF THE 

HEBREW CONGREGATION, IN CROSBY STREET. 

[ No. 5. ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New' 

York : 

The memorial of the Congregations of the Hebrew Persua- 
sion in the City of New-York, respectfully 

REPRESENT : 

That your Memorialists perceive that an application has 
been made, by other religious sects of this city, for a portion 



365 [Doc. No. 80, 

of the money raised for the promotion of general education, 
and believing that the reasons urged in favor of said applica- 
tion will apply, with increased force, in favor of your memo- 
rialists, and as your memorialists contribute a full proportion 
towards the fund or tax referred to, they respectfully but ear- 
nestly contend, that they are entitled to a participation in its 
benefits, provided your Honorable Body determine to appro- 
propriate it with reference to religious faith. 

Your memorialists therefore pray that a law may be passed 
authorizing your memorialists, and such other Hebrew Con- 
gregations as may establish and maintain schools in accord- 
ance with the requisitions of law, to draw for a rateable por- 
tion of the School Money belonging to this city, and your 
memorialists, as in duty bound will ever pray. 

New York, March, 1840. 

M. L. MOSES, President 
of the Congregation Shearith Israel, (Crosby street.) 

MORELAND MICHOLL, President 
of the Congregation Benai Jeshurim, (Elm street.) 



Doc. No. 80.] 366 



ffi^££<OSrStt&&£MHB 



Trustees of the Public School Society, 

SIGNED BY ROBERT C CORNELL AND OTHERS, TRUS- 
TEES &c. 

[ No. 6. ] 
To the Common Council : 

The undersigned, in their associate capacity, as Trustees of 
the Public School Society, and in their individual character, as 
citizens, hereby respectfully, but urgently, Remonstrate against 
the granting of a request presented by the Trustees of the Ca- 
tholic Schools, for a participation in the Common School Mo- 
nies. 

Your remonstrants are opposed to this proposition, as being 
unconstitutional and inexpedient. 

Unconstitutional — because in our State Charter and in our 
Statute Book, the Common School Fund is appropriated to, 
and for the benefit and support of common schools only and 
exclusively — and we deem it self-evident that no school can 
be so called, unless open to all classes and descriptions of 
citizens, and conducted on a system to which none can reason- 
ably object. Such is not the case with the Catholic schools — 
the peculiar sectarian tenets of that faith are part, and by them 
thought to be an essential part, of the course of instruction — - 
and hence all unbelievers in Catholic doctrines are unwilling^ 



367 [Doc. No. 80. 

and may with good reason object to send their children to 

such schools. 

Unconstitutional — because it is utterly at variance with the 
letter and spirit of our chartered rights, and with the genius 
of our political institutions, that the community should be 
taxed to support an establishment in which sectarian dogmas 
are inculcated, whether that establishment be a school or a 
church. 

Inexpedient — because the Public Schools, open to all with- 
out discrimination, and so conducted that no reasonable objec- 
tion can be made by any to sending their children to them— 
are now in a very flourishing and satisfactory condition, and 
are annually increasing in numbers and usefulness — and 
which schools would, by the admission of Church Schools to 
participate in the School Fund, be crippled and probably de- 
stroyed. 

Inexpedient — because the question was fully examined by 
the Common Council, in 1822, and all the Church Schools, 
including the Catholic, which had previously drawn from the 
School Fund were cut ofT, and the great principle of non-sec- 
tarianism adopted as the basis for subsequent appropriations 
from this fund. 

Inexpedient — because by the concentration of the fund in 
one channel, a much greater amount of good is produced, than 
could be the case were it divided and subdivided among many ; 
for, in the Public Schools, the same expense for Teachers, &c. 
would be incurred in a school of one hundred or one hun- 
dred and fifty as in one of double the number. 

Induced by these leading positions, which they consider ful- 
ly tenable, and by others, which brevity induces the omission 
of, your remonstrants urgently protest against the admission of 
the Catholic, or any other sectarian schools, to a participation 
in the Public monies ; and of so great importance do they 
consider the subject, that, unless the Common Council are pre- 
pared on a mere statement of these objections, to deny the ap- 



Doc. No. 80.] 368 

plication, your remonstrants, respectfully request that they 
may be heard in defence of their positions, before a Joint 
Meeting of your two Boards. 

Our Executive Committee will prepare and present a re- 
monstrance more in detail. 

New- York, February 24, 1840. 



REMONSTRANCE 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY, 

BY THEIE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

[ No. 7. ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New- 
York : 

The Remonstrance of the Public School Society, by their 
Executive Committee, respectfully 

SHEWETH : 

That your Remonstrants learn with regret and surprise, that 
the Trustees of the Catholic Schools, have petitioned for a 
portion of the School Fund, to support the schools under their 



369 [Doc. No. 80. 

care. Nearly twenty years have elapsed since sectarian 
schools were excluded from a participation in this fund, and 
your remonstrants had indulged a hope, that the question was 
forever at rest. 

The injustice of taxing the whole community for the sup- 
port of sectarian schools is so manifest, and it is so glaringly 
incompatible with the genius of our political institutions, that 
the naked proposition would seem to carry with it its own re- 
futation. The Constitution of this State declares, " that the 
proceeds of certain lands belonging to the State, together 
with the Fund, denominated the Common School Fund, shall 
be, and remain a perpetual Fund, the interest of which shall 
be invariably appropriated to the support of Common Schools 
throughout the State." 

So far as your memorialists are aware, there is not in any 
law regulating the general distribution of this Fund, nor in 
either of the numerous circulars issued by the Secretary of 
State, in his capacity as Superintendent of Common Schools, 
is there the most remote allusion to sectarian instruction in re- 
ligion, except that on one occasion, after citing some ten or 
twelve class-books of a strictly literary and moral character, he 
refers to " Sampson's Beauties of the Bible," as a compilation 
well adapted to Common Schools ; but as if aware of the 
delicate ground on which he was treading, the Secretary im- 
mediately remarks, " that the selection has been made without 
reference to any disputed points of doctrine ; and it is entirely 
free from all sectarian spirit ;" thus evincing his own view of 
the necessity of excluding sectarian instruction from the Com- 
mon School system of education. 

Owing to the impracticability of apportioning the school 
monies among the citizens of this city, in the manner adopted 
for the districts, the Legislature was induced in 1813, to pass 
a law authorizing " such incorporated religious societies in 
She City of New- York, as supported, or should establish Cha- 
rity Schools," to participate in the income of the School Fund. 



Doc. No. 80.] 370 

That income was then very small, and there was no direct 
tax on the city for school purposes, independent of the School 
Fund tax. The amount thus drawn was so inconsiderable, 
that the subject did not attract much attention, until 1822, 
when it was discovered that one congregation, or rather its 
pastor, had embarked in the business of school-keeping as mat- 
ter of speculation, and had established three Charity Schools. 

By deceptive returns, he managed to draw from the Fund 
a greater sum than was required for the payment of teachers? 
(to which its application was restricted by law.) He then pro- 
cured an enactment, authorizing him to apply the surplus to the 
erection of school houses and all other purposes of education. 
Under a liberal construction of this clause, he ventured to 
build a church, with miserable accommodations for a school 
on the basement floor. These proceedings alarmed not only 
your memorialists, but the citizens generally, as well as several 
of the churches who had received and applied the public mo- 
ney in good faith, and they united in asking of the Legis- 
lature a remedy for these abuses. So important was the sub- 
ject deemed, that the Corporation of the City, without a nega- 
tive vote, joined in the application, which finally brought the 
whole question before the State government. 

The Committee charged with its consideration, after a pa- 
tient investigation, during which, gross fraud and peculation 
were proved to have been practiced by the clergyman referred 
to, made a report in which the following language occurs : 

" There is, however, one general principle, of no ordinary 
magnitude, to which the Committee would beg leave to call 
the attention of the house." 

" It appears that the City of New- York is the only part of 
the state, where the School Fund is at all subject to the con- 
trol of religious societies. This fund is considered by your 
Committee purely of a civil character, and therefore it never 
ought, in their opinion to pass into the hands of any corpora- 
tion, or sect of men, who are not directly amenable to the con- 



371 [Doc. No. 80. 

stituted civil authorities of the government, and bound to re- 
port their proceedings to the Public. Your Committee for- 
bear, in this place, to enter fully into this branch of the sub- 
ject, but they respectfully submit whether it is not a violation 
of a fundamental principle of our legislation to allow the funds 
of the State, raised by a tax on the citizens, and designed for 
civil purposes, to be subject to the control of any religious 
corporation." 

The report was approved, and the only law of this State 
which ever authorized an ecclesiastical or religious associa- 
tion to use the " Common School Fund," was stricken from 
the statute book, and the right conferred on the Corporation of 
this City, of designating the :: Societies and Schools" to 
which the money should be given. 

The conflict was thus transferred from Albany to New- 
York, and the whole question was brought by the parties in- 
terested, before the Municipal Government, and by them re- 
ferred to a Committee, whose report, after a patient and labo- 
rious investigation, is, perhaps, among the most impartial, able 
and conclusive document that was ever presented to your Ho- 
norable Body. 

After a merited compliment to the respectable churches, and 
religious societies, who participated in the fund, and whose 
delegates had been fully heard, the committee concluded their 
report as follows* — " but the weight of the argument, as urged 
before them, and which they have endeavored to condense in 
this report, and the established constitutional and political 
doctrines, which have a bearing on this question, and the 
habits and modes of thinking of the constituents at large of 
this Eoard, require, in the opinion of your committee, that the 
Common School Fund should be distributed for civil purposes 
only, as contra-distinguished from those of a religious or sec- 

* See Document— dated April 11, 1825, signed S. CowDREr, (Chair- 
man) Thomas Bolton, E. W. King. 



Doc. No. SO.] 372 

tarian description." The recommendation of the committee 
was approved by the Common Council, and all church schools 
were, and continue to be, excluded from participating in the 
fund. 

Your memorialists were thus induced to prosecute the cause 
of general education with renewed vigor, but finding the sum 
derived from the School Fund, and its equivalent local tax, 
very inadequate to the pressing wants of a rapidly increasing 
population, they procured the signatures of several thousands 
of our largest tax-paying citizens, to a petition to the Com- 
mon Council, requesting that an application might be made to 
the Legislature, for authority to lay " an annual tax of not less 
than half a mill on the dollar, upon the amount of assessed 
property in the city, for the purpose of free and common edu- 
cation ; the funds thus to be raised, to be kept separate from 
all others, and sacred to the purposes for which it is designated.'^ 

The whole tenor of this petition clearly shews, that it was 
in aid of " the Common Schools of the City," and of " free 
and common education," that the petitioners asked to be taxed. 
They declare that their object is " to provide for the security 
and permanency of our republican institutions by the general 
diffusion of knowledge." 

Does any person believe that a sectarian education is neces- 
sary to the attainment of these objects ? Or, that a diversion 
of the fund to ecclesiastical uses would not be a violation of 
the " purposes for which it was designed ?" 

Your memorialists dwell with stress on this petition, because 
from it arose the present tax of four-eightieths of one per cent., 
which is something more than three-fifths of the entire sum 
devoted to common school education in this city. 

It is, perhaps, the only petition that ever was presented to a 
legislative body soliciting the privilege of being taxed. It 
was signed understanding! y and on mature reflection, by thou- 
sands whose immediate pecuniary interest was adverse to the 
prayer ; and hence, your memorialists respectfully urge, that 



373 [Doc. No. 80. 

a strict and sacred regard, in the distribution of its avails, 
should be had to the motives which influenced the petitioners. 

With the greatly augmented means, afforded by the pro- 
ceeds of this tax, your memorialists were enabled not only 
largely to increase the number, but greatly to improve the 
quality of the Public Schools. At this time there are ninety- 
seven schools of the various grades, in the benefits of which 
upwards of twenty thousand children participated during the 
past year. The quality of these schools, it is believed, may 
safely challenge a comparison with those of the same grade, 
in this or any other country. The question is now submitted 
to the guardians of the city whether these schools shall be 
sustained or abandoned ; and the funds created for their sup- 
port, diverted to the support of ecclesiastical establishments. 

Your memorialists feel warranted in presenting this issue, 
because the income of the " Public School Society" is scarce- 
ly sufficient to sustain the present Public Schools ; and it can- 
not be doubted, that if the petition of the " Trustees of the 
Catholic Schools," is successful, similar applications will im- 
mediately be made by the numerous sects into which the 
Christian church is divided. And it is not perceived upon 
what ground they could under such circumstances be denied, 
nor why associations of unbelievers, (of which there are a 
number in this city,) may not with equal, and in some respects 
greater propriety, demand and receive a portion of the fund. 

The amount annually paid to Teachers in the " Public 
Schools," is about Sixty Thousand Dollars. And it is a well 
known feature of the system of education practised in the Pub- 
lic Schools, that a reduction of one half the number of pupils 
in each school, (which is a probable consequence of the con- 
itngency referred to,) would not materially lessen the expense 
of tuition, without serious detriment to those remaining. 

Should the school money be divided and subdivided among 
church schools, some of which would necessarily be very 
small, your memorialists entertain a confident belief, that the 



Doc. No. 80.] 374 

important cause of general education would receive a fatal 
check ; for, besides the loss sustained in frittering away the 
fund among small schools, too numerous and diversified to 
undergo the healthy supervision of the Commissioners and 
Managers of those schools, having what they might deem, 
higher and more important objects in view, in the inculcation 
of religious creeds or dogmas, could scarcely fail to neglect 
the literary for the religious culture of the children's minds. 

If it be urged that the Catholic Schools are open to all with- 
out distinction as to religious sect ; your remonstrants reply, 
that this fact only enhances the objection to granting the 
prayer of their petition ; which then virtually is, that they 
may be enabled to gain proselytes at the public expense ; and 
that too in the most effectual way, by an influence exerted on 
the tender and susceptible minds of youth. Such an applica- 
tion of public money is not, perhaps, inconsistent with purity 
of motive ; but can it be done with justice to those who, with 
at least equal sincerity, entertain directly opposite views ? 

It is not understood that the Catholic clergy object to the 
Public Schools, on account of any religious doctrines taught 
in them, but because the peculiar doctrines of the Church of 
Rome are not taught therein : and they now ask for a portion 
of the public money in order that these doctrines may be taught, 
in connection with the kind of instruction for which alone 
these monies were raised. And here it may be proper to state, 
that several interviews were formerly had with the Catholic 
Bishop, for the purpose of removing any reasonable objections 
he might have to the system of instruction in the Public 
Schools, or to the books used in them ; and it was proposed 
to submit the books to his inspection, in order that they might, 
if found objectionable, undergo expurgation. 

In selecting Teachers for the Public Schools, no regard is 
had to the sectarian views of the candidates ; and since the 
application now under consideration, it has been ascertained 



375 [Doc. No, SO, 

that at least six of the Teachers belong to the Roman Catho- 
lic Church. 

Your memorialists disclaim all feeling of hostility to the 
respectable body against whose petition they remonstrate. 
Nor are they conscious of a want of sympathy for the op- 
pressed of other lands, who seek an asylum in this ; on the 
contrary, they act under a firm conviction that the sooner such 
persons abandon any unfavorable prejudices with which they 
may arrive among us, and become familiar with our language, 
and reconciled to our institutions and habits, the better it will 
be for them, and for the country of their adoption. If this be 
true, the best interests of all will be alike promoted by having 
their children mingle with ours in the public seminaries of 
learning. 

The theory and practice of our happy and equal form of 
government is, to protect every religious persuasion, and sup- 
port none. It was supposed for ages, that religion could not 
flourish without aid from the strong arm of secular power i 
and even now this delusion prevails extensively in the old 
world. The political compact by which these United States 
are governed, divorced the unholy alliance between Church 
and State. Yet, until within a recent period, the lingering re- 
mains of prejudice derived from pious but bigoted ancestors, 
retained one feature of the exploded system, in the code of a 
neighboring State ; but even there, those laws which taxed 
the people at large for the support of sectarian schools, have 
been abrogated ; and it remains to be seen whether the City 
of New- York will take the first step in a retrograde course. 

Your memorialists have no interest in the pending question, 
other than in common with the great mass of their fellow citi- 
zens. But having devoted much time and gratuitous labor 
in building up the present unrivalled Public School system, 
their feelings are more ardently embarked in the cause ; and 
they have greatly erred in estimating the tone of the public 

6 



Doc. No. 80.J 376 

mind, if the views here expressed are not fully sustained by 
public opinion. 

Powerful and pervading as the influence of party politics 
is known to be, it is believed that there are principles so dear, 
and so deeply rooted, that honest men of every party will lose 
sight of inferior objects, and unite in their support. 

In conclusion, your remonstrants refer to the annexed com- 
munication and resolutions of the " Commissioners of School 
money," who derive their appointment from your Honorable 
Body, and whose duty it is to visit all Schools that participate 
in the School Fund, and report their condition to the Corpo- 
ration of this City, and to the Superintendent of Common 
Schools at Albany. This document, it will be seen, fully sus- 
tains the reasoning and conclusions of your remonstrants. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

ROBERT C. CORNELL, President. 

A. P. Haley, Secretary. 
New- York. March 2, 1840. 



At a Meeting of the Co?nmissioners of School Money, held 
at the City Hall of New- York, on the 29th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1840. 

A communication having been received at a former meeting, 
from the Trustees of the Public School Society, of New-York, 
referring to an application now pending before the Common 
Council, which prays, that the schools in this City established 
and governed by one of the denominations of Christians, be 
admitted to a participation of the Common School Monies ; 
and this Board deeming it their duty to consider and answer 



377 [Doc. No. 80. 

any communication connected with the interests of the schools 
subject to their visitation : 

It is, therefore, unanimously Resolved, as the opinion of 
this Board, that schools created and directed by any particular 
religious society, should derive no aid from a fund designed 
for the common benefit of all the youth of this City, without 
religious distinction or preference. 

That an appropriation of the School Monies to establish- 
ments controlled by any individual sect, would be unjust to 
all other denominations not similarly favored, and constitute 
a partiality irreconcileable with the spirit of our political insti- 
tutions ; would narrow the liberal and expanded scheme of 
public education, for which the community at large, without 
religious discrimination, is taxed ; would make the Common 
School money a source of intrigue, cupidity, and contention, 
among the various portions of our citizens who are divided in 
tenets of faith ; and would, in its progressive results, render 
useless many of the commodious structures, erected in this 
City at the general expense, which are now the thronged seats 
of public instruction ; and injure, perhaps fatally, the noble 
system of Common School Education that distinguishes our 
City and State. 

Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings, signed by the 
Chairman and Secretary, in behalf of the Commissioners of 
School Money, be forwarded to the Trustees of the Public 
School Society of New-York, with permission to make such 
use of it, in sustaining the Common School System, unfettered 
by sectarian connexions, as in their opinion may best promote 
that object. 

SAMUEL GILFORD, Jun., 

Chairman of Common School Money. 

M. B. Edgar, Secretary. 



Doc, No. 80.J 378 



OF THE 

MEMBERS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 

SIGNED BY GILBERT COUTANT AND 1076 OTHERS. 

[ No. 8. ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New- 
York. 

The Memorial of the undersigned, members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, and of the several Congregations of 
said Church in the City of New- York, respectfully 

SHEWETH : 

That your memorialists have learned with regret that the 
Trustees of the Catholic Schools have petitioned your Honor- 
able Body to appropriate a portion of the Public School Fund 
for the support of schools under their particular superintend- 
ence and control, thereby diverting said fund from its proper 
use. 

It is known to your Honorable Body, that the question of 
employing the public money for the support of schools under 
the direction of a particular denomination of Christians, has 
heretofore been thoroughly investigated, and, it was hoped 9 
finally settled. 



379 [Doc. No. SO. 

The Church with which your memorialists have the honor 
to be connected, witnessing, at an early period of its existence 
in the City, the necessity of some provision to extend the bene- 
fits of education to the poor, established a free school, which 
was supported for many years by contributions in the several 
congregations, and accomplished an incalculable amount of 
good, before the State moved in this matter at all. 

After Public Schools were established, the institution of 
which we speak, with others of a similar description, was al- 
lowed to receive a portion of the public funds, and thus con- 
tinue its operations unitedly with the public institutions, to 
carry forward the benevolent purpose in which all were en- 
gaged. 

Circumstances, which we need not mention, but over which 
the friends and patrons of the charity schools of long con- 
tinuance in the city had no control, caused them to be ex- 
cluded from a participation in the public funds. At that time, 
the patrons of the school we have described, applied to the 
Common Council to have the benefit of which it had been de- 
prived, restored. The reasons they urged in support of their 
appeal, they considered strong and conclusive. They were 
among the first, if not the very first in the City, engaged in 
the benevolent work of providing the means of instruction for 
the poor. The institution was endeared to those who had 
been long devoted to its interests ; and they could not, without 
pain, witness its discontinuance. It could not be discontinued 
without great pecuniary loss. Many poor persons, particular- 
ly widows, who had children to be educated, had placed them- 
selves in situations to enjoy its benefits, and would be the 
greatest sufferers by its discontinuance. These, and other 
similar considerations, induced its friends to desire that it 
might be continued, and they were urged before the Commit- 
tee of the Common Council appointed to consider the subject 
in favor of their petition to that effect. But when the subject 
was thoroughly investigated, and the advantages of having 



Doc. No. 80.J 380 

the entire system of Common School instruction in the City 
carried out on one general plan, sufficiently broad and liberal 
to meet the reasonable wants and claims of all, were success- 
fully urged in support of the policy which had been adopted 
for the appropriation of the public funds, that policy was 
heartily concurred in, and the institution which had been for 
so long a time sustained by the Church, was given up. 

Your memorialists wish to be understood distinctly to de- 
clare their increased confidence in, and approval of, the policy 
of appropriating the Public School Money to the Public 
Schools only, and therefore remonstrate most decidedly against 
granting the petition of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic 
Schools, which, in their estimation, would be a perversion of 
the Public School Fund. 

But if their petition be granted, then we, your memorialists, 
representing the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the City of 
New-York, consisting of more than Seven Thousand church 
members, with perhaps twice that number connected with the 
congregations thereof, and more than twenty large and flour- 
ishing Sabath Schools, ask and claim that an equitable propor- 
tion of said Public School Fund be appropriated to the Metho- 
dist Eipscopal Church, to enable them to resuscitate their for- 
mer school, and erect others, to be managed and conducted 
by them as they, in their discretion, may judge proper. 

And your Memorialists will, as in duty bound, ever pray. 

New- York, March 6, 1840. 



381 [Doc. No. 80. 



&&££<& 3Sr£3ffi&£M}& 



WILLIAM HOLMES, AND SIXTY-ONE OTHER 
CITIZENS. 

[ No. 9. ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of Netv- 

York : 

The undersigned, citizens of the City and County of New- 
York, having learned that a petition has been presented to 
your Honorable Body, from the Trustees of the Roman Ca- 
tholic Churches of this city, praying for an appropriation from 
the Public Funds, to aid them in educating their children ac- 
cording to their religious faith — do, respectfully but firmly 
protest against such a measure, as subversive of every princi- 
ple of right and justice, and one which would be a palpable 
violation of that provision of the Constitution which forbids 
the extension of preference to any particular creed. We hesi- 
tate not to express it as our full conviction that the ultimate 
result of such proceedings must be the entire overthrow of our 
republican institutions. 



Doe. No. 80.] 382 



OF THE 

"EAST BROOME STREET BAPTIST CHURCH," 

SIGNED BY P. BOYCE AND THIRTY-NINE OTHERS. 

[ No. 10. ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New- 
York : 

The undersigned, comprising, in part, the " East Broome 
Street Baptist Church," in the City of New-York, remonstrate 
against the appropriation of any portion of the School Fund 
to the Roman Catholic or any other religious sect, believing 
that a distribution of any part of said fund in such a manner 
will be injurious to the best interest of the community, and 
destructive of the present popular and highly efficient Public 
Schools, which are in our opinion better calculated to promote 
the education of the rising generation, than it could be done 
if entrusted to the great diversity of religious sects, into which 
the people are divided. 

New- York, March 25, 1840. 



383 [Doc, No. 80. 



REMONSTRANCE 



LOCKWOOD SMITH AND TWO HUNDRED AND 
NINE OTHER CITIZENS. 

[ No. 11. ] 

To the Common Council of the City of New- York : 

The undersigned, citizens of the City of New-York, having 1 
learned that a petition has been presented to your Honorable 
Body, by the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Churches in 
said city, praying for an appropriation from the Public Mo- 
nies, to aid them in educating children according to their re- 
ligious faith — do respectfully, but firmly Remonstrate against 
the granting of the prayer of the said petition, on the ground 
that such a measure would be subversive of every priciple of 
equal justice and equal right, and a palpable violation of that 
provision of the Constitution which forbids the extension of 
preferences to any particular creed. We hesitate not to avow 
our full conviction that should the application be acceded to, 
a state of things must inevitably ensue disastrous to the peace 
of the country : — a blow will have been struck at the founda- 
tion of our religious and political liberties, the ultimate result 
of which would be the entire overthrow of our republican in- 
stitutions. 

Respectfully submitted. 



Doc. No. 80.] 384 



IBIBES@3SS , S l 3J3B^KrCS3B 



OF THE 



MINISTERS, ELDERS AND DEACONS OF THE RE- 
FORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH, 

IN THE CITY OF NEW- YORK. 

f No. 12. ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New- 
York : 

This Remonstrance of the Ministers, Elders and Deacons 
of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, of the City of 
New- York, respectfully 

SHEWETH: 

That we have heard that a petitition is now pending before 
your Honorable Body, from " the Trustees of the Catholic 
Schools," praying that a portion of the public monies, appro- 
priated by law to the maintenance of the common schools of 
our City, may be diverted from that object, and applied to the 
support of their private schools, in which the peculiar tenets 
of their religious faith are inculcated, and which are exclu- 
sively under Roman Catholic supervision and control. 

This request has filled us with surprise and pain — we be- 
lieve it is the only instance in which any society of professed 
christians has ventured to invite the public authorities in so 
open a manner to forget or disregard that fundamental princi- 



385 [Doc. No. 80. 

pie of our civil compact, < : Free toleration of all religious de- 
nominations, special and exclusive privilege to no?ie" and 
has boldly solicited that their private and sectarian interests 
may be taken under the fostering care of the State. Such a 
measure could be regarded in no other light, than preferring 
one religious creed to the disparagement and injury of all 
others ; clothing it with peculiar advantages for the work of 
proselytism, and in effect creating an odious union between 
Church and State : an union, not less repugnant to the senti- 
ments and wishes of the Protestant portion of this community, 
than it is forbidden by the genius of our republican institu- 
tions. 

The present School Fund, as we understand, is collected 
from our citizens at large, without respect to religious belief; 
and it is applied in such a way that all are at liberty to enjoy 
its benefits, and the rights of none are invaded. But the pe- 
titioners unwilling to place themselves on the common level, 
in substance ask, that a tax may be imposed on all others, for 
their benefit : — that from the monies contributed by the entire 
community, they may draw a large proportion for sectarian 
uses. So long as no disabilities are imposed upon Catholics, 
but the door is opened just as readily and as widely to them, 
as to every other class among us, — and so long as their own 
sectarianism and exclusiveness alone, deprive them of the 
common privilege, we need not ask if their petition is reason- 
able ; if it is just. 

The existing law superseded a former law allowing aid out 
of the Public Funds to the private schools of religious socie- 
ties : and was introduced in consequence of the gross abuses 
and evils which were discovered to have arisen under the pre- 
vious arrangement. It enacts that the public monies shall be 
appropriated exclusively to the public Common Schools, for 
civil education, and not for any sectarian purposes whatever. 
Since it has been in operation, great efforts have been made to 



Doe. No. 80.] 386 

widen the sphere, and improve the mode of common school 
education, and with admirable success. And assuredly we 
have reason to rejoice in the noble structure that has been 
reared, and may well deprecate any action that would tend to 
weaken or overthrow it. It needs, however, no special fore- 
sight to perceive, that should the prayer of the petitioners be 
granted by your Honorable Body, the result must be confusion 
and jealousy, and strife ; that various societies, religious and 
irreligious, will seek their proper share : that the present sys- 
tem must be completely deranged, if not ere long abandoned, 
and that we must revert to the mode which experience has 
proved to be imperfect, and liable to great and painful 
abuses. 

Against the prayer of said petitioners, therefore, we, the 
Ministers, Elders, and Deacons, of the Reformed Protestant 
Dutch Church, of the City of New-York, in Consistory as- 
sembled, do hereby, in the most solemn and earnest manner, 
remonstrate and protest. It would inflict deep wrong 
upon the whole Protestant community : its principle, we deem 
to be indirect opposition to a great principle of our government, 
and destructive of the present admirable and efficient mode of 
general instruction. 

We do not indeed, for one moment, imagine it possible, that 
such a grant can be made to the Roman Catholics, and any 
Protestant denomination be excluded from a full participation. 
But, though we should ourselves reap some pecuniary advan- 
tage, in the increased means it would afford to our own Cha- 
rity School, one of the oldest in the city, which has been for 
many years sustained by the private munificence of our own 
members, yet, we respectfully remonstrate against all interfe- 
rence with the existing arrangement : believing it to be admi- 
rably adapted to secure a great public good, and that by the 
proposed change, especially, the interests of common school 
education must grievously suffer. 



487 [Doc. No. 80, 

Done in Consistory, this fifteenth day of March, Eighteen 
Hundred and Forty. 

THOMAS E. VERMILYE, President. 

[ l. s. ] Attested,- 

CORNELIUS BOGERT, Clerk. 



ISE^^^iUMl 



MINISTERS, ELDERS, AND DEACONS OF THE 
REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH, 

IN BROOME STREET. 

[ No. 13. ] 

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New- 
York : 

The Consistory of the Reformed Dutch Church of Broome 
street, in this city, beg leave respectfully, yet earnestly to re- 
monstrate against the appropriation to private schools, and for 
the promotion of sectarian interests, of any portion of the 
funds appropriated by law to the support of the Common 
Schools of our city. 

The application recently made by the Trustees of the Ca- 
tholic Schools, for a portion of said funds for the support of 



Doe. No. 80.] 388 

the private schools connected with the Catholic Church, calls 
for an act, alike repugnant to common justice, the genius of 
our institutions, and the design for which the fund was created. 

If the Catholics will not avail themselves of the right to 
send their children to the common schools of the city, they 
must choose to waive their right, from considerations with 
which the public authorities can have nothing to do, unless 
they would make sectarian dogmas the ground of civil legis- 
lation. 

So far as religion is concerned, we believe that the precise 
point aimed at by the founders of our institutions, was to pre- 
vent all such legislation, with all its results. The law con- 
templates our citizens only in their civil capacity. Religion 
itself is a civil right in our Constitution, and they who are 
protected in its exercise, can have nothing to ask. If there be 
any sect in our country, so utterly dissocial in its principles, 
as to refuse to participate with us in a portion of our common 
liberty, the thought is not to be entertained for a moment, that 
our institutions are to be altered, and our citizens taxed to fos- 
ter and perpetuate peculiarities ; which must forever prevent 
the union of all on the basis of common right and equal pri- 
vileges. 

Should your Honorable Body appropriate a portion of the 
funds raised from the whole mass of our citizens, to the sup- 
port of the primary schools of the Roman Catholics ; why 
should not the Legislature appropriate another portion of the 
public funds for the support of higher schools and colleges, 
with all their monastic appendages, to be devoted to the same 
sectarian interests. 

These things done, and we have before us two of the most 
odious features of a religion established by the State — the go- 
vernment showing special favor to a particular sect — and the 
whole body taxed, for the support of a fart. 

While we most earnestly protest against all this, we trust 
your Honorable Body will accept the assurance, that it is from 



389 [Doc. No. 80. 

no desire to step aside from our appropriate sphere of action, 
as a Council of the Church, that we use so much freedom ; 
but that we are impelled by a strong desire, both as Christians 
and citizens, to bear our testimony against, and if possible, to 
prevent a course of action, the necessary tendency of which 
must be to disturb the beautiful harmony of the institutions 
under which we live, and in the preservation of which, we 
see the surest pledge of political happiness to ourselves and 
our children. 

By order of the Consistory, and in behalf of the whole con- 
gregation. 

SAMUEL A. VAN VRANKEN, Pastor. 

Neio- York, March, 1840. 



afeSB8B0l>aS«JBAS?<B2B 



CONSISTORY OF THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH, NEW- YORK. 

[ No. 14. ] 

To the Common Council of the City of New- York. 

Remonstrance of the Consistory of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church, New-York. 

The Minister, Elders, and Deacons of the Reformed Pres- 
byterian Church, New- York, in Consistory met, do hereby 



Doc. No. 80.] 390 

address the Common Council of said City, in the language of 
respectful remonstrance, as follows : 

Your remonstrants, in common with their fellow citizens of 
other religious persuasions, have heard that application has 
been made to you by the Directors of the Roman Catholic 
schools in this City, for an appropriation from the Common 
School Fund, under your control, to aid in the support of 
their self-established and sectarian schools. 

Against the granting of their petition in the premises, we 
respectfully remonstrate for the following reasons : 

1. The Roman Catholics object to the Common School 
system, as established by law, because they profess to find in 
it, as reduced to practice, something that contravenes their 
peculiar religious tenets. They are unwilling to send their 
children to mingle in the common schools with those of their 
fellow citizens of other religious persuasions, because, as they 
imagine, the religious opinions and preferences in which they 
are educated, will be offended and opposed. 

They therefore establish schools of their own, in which 
their peculiar faith is taught, and to aid in the support of 
these, they ask a share of the school fund under your control. 

Should the Common Council grant their petition, they 
would, in our estimation, be directly contributing to the sup- 
port and perpetuation of the faith and practice of a particular 
religious sect ; an act which would be at variance with the 
whole spirit of our civil institutions, involving a prostitution 
of the school fund itself, and tending to create a privileged 
class in society, to the detriment of others entitled to equal 
rights. 

2. Should the principle on which the application of the 
Roman Catholics proceed, be sanctioned by the Common Coun- 
cil, and reduced to practice, it would either lead to injustice 
to other denominations, or to an abandonment of the present 
system of Common School education entirely. 

Should other denominations apply for a share, and be de- 



391 [Doc. No. 80. 

nied, they would have good reason to complain of injustice. 
Should such application be granted, a very large proportion 
of the school monies would necessarily pass into the hands of 
the representatives of the different religious communities of 
our City and State, and thus the business of general educa- 
tion would be mainly directed by religious bodies as such. 

Whether or not this might be the most efficient and valua- 
ble system of education, we now give no opinion. It is quite 
evident that such is not the object of the system, as by law 
now established. Would not the granting of the petition 
against which we remonstrate be a virtual, if not a literal vio- 
lation, of the law for the direction of this matter made and 
provided ? 

For these and other reasons which might be urged, we most 
respectfully remonstrate against the granting of the applica- 
tion above referred to. 

Signed by order of Consistory. 

JOHN N. McLEOD, Moderator. 

Wm. Agnew, Secretary. 

Done at the Consistory room, April 7th, 1840. City of 
New-York. 



